Bio

Dr. Benn Steil is senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is also the founding editor of International Finance, a top scholarly economics journal, and lead writer of the Council’s Geo-Graphics economics blog. Prior to his joining the Council in 1999, he was director of the International Economics Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. He came to the Institute in 1992 from a Lloyd’s of London Tercentenary Research Fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he received his MPhil and DPhil (PhD) in economics. He also holds a BSc in economics summa cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Steil has written and spoken widely on international finance, monetary policy, financial markets, and economic history. He has testified before the U.S. House, Senate, and CFTC on financial market and monetary issues. He is a regular op-ed contributor at the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. His latest book, The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order, won the 2013 Spear’s Book Award in Financial History, took third prize in CFR’s 2014 Arthur Ross Book Award competition, was shortlisted for the 2014 Lionel Gelber Prize (“the world’s most important prize for non-fiction,” according to The Economist), and was the top book-of-the-year choice in Bloomberg’s 2013 poll of global policymakers and CEOs. The book has been called “a triumph of economic and diplomatic history” by the Financial Times, “a superb history” by the Wall Street Journal, “the gold standard on its subject” by the New York Times, and “the publishing event of the season” by Bloomberg’s Tom Keene. His previous book, Money, Markets and Sovereignty, was awarded the 2010 Hayek Book Prize. Financial Statecraft: The Role of Financial Markets in American Foreign Policy was named one of the “Best Business Books of 2006” by Library Journal and an “Outstanding Academic Title of 2006” by Choice.

The Marshall Plan

When economic and political turmoil hit a critical part of the world, calls pour forth for "a new Marshall Plan" to alleviate hardship, calm passions, and stir hope. Hillary Clinton invoked the Marshall Plan in the context of the Arab Spring; Peer Steinbrueck contrasted it glowingly to Angela Merkel's policies toward the eurozone; George Soros pleaded for one to counter Russia in Ukraine. Indeed, the Marshall Plan, the most ambitious and visionary element of the United States' immediate post–World War II foreign policy, has become virtually synonymous with enlightened foreign intervention. Seen widely in hindsight as the best of times for American diplomacy, the years of the Marshall Plan were also among the most fraught and challenging for those who crafted it under enormous strain in a matter of months. Much as my most recent book, The Battle of Bretton Woods, was a response to calls from world leaders for "a new Bretton Woods" in the wake of the financial crisis, my forthcoming book, A World Upended: The Making and Meaning of the Marshall Plan, will be a response to the current conjurings of that legend.

This project is made possible through the support of the Smith Richardson Foundation.

International Finance

Published three times a year, International Finance (IF), which I edit for Wiley publishers, is a top scholarly journal that takes on the challenging, topical questions that central bankers and treasury officials care about. In addition to our double-refereed articles, IF publishes extended book reviews and original commentary pieces by top current and former policymakers, like Alan Greenspan. Free online access to one article in the most recent issue is always available on the Center for Geoeconomic Studies web page.

Over the past two decades, another form of economic exchange besides imports and exports has risen to a level of vastly greater significance and political concern: the purchase and sale of financial assets across borders.

In Benn Steil's October column in Dow Jones' Financial News, he shows that the U.S. only calls for floating exchange rates when it believes the dollar will float down rather than up, and argues that this self-interested inconsistency is encouraging China and America's other major creditors to move away from non-discriminatory multilateral trade as they seek to lessen their dependence on the dollar.

In the first of his new monthly columns for Financial News,Benn Steil argues that private as well as public sector defined benefit pension schemes are a major risk to taxpayers, and should be replaced by defined contribution schemes.

Benn Steil argues that Keynes's General Theory demonstrably misapprehends the nature of money and the monetary system, and that shorn of its theoretical foundation, "fiscal stimulus" cannot be considered a harmless remedy.

In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Benn Steil argues that the U.S Federal Reserve has seriously damaged the credibility of the policy framework its chairman has long championed, inflation targeting, by pursuing other objectives inconsistent with price stability.

In this Financial Times op-ed, Benn Steil argues that the Fed's aggressive monetary expansion threatens to undermine its unique powers among central banks, and, if continued, will have damaging consequences for America's future prosperity and global political influence.

In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Benn Steil argues that Calpers, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, is best viewed as a highly political "sovereign wealth fund." Governed by state political figures and union representatives, Calpers' investment decisions are frequently guided by foreign policy and social agendas rather than fundholder interests.

Mark Fisch and Benn Steil write that “the devastating credit squeeze that has been gumming up the interbank and commercial paper loan markets for months shows few signs of letting up. The underlying problem remains firmly in the market for subprime mortgages.”

In light of the recent turmoil in the foreign exchange markets, Benn Steilcondenses the arguments of his recent Foreign Affairs article, 'The End ofNational Currency,' for Canada's leading financial daily.

Money, Markets, and Sovereignty

SpeakerBenn SteilSenior Fellow and Director of International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations; Coauthor, "Money, Markets, and Sovereignty"PresiderReuben Jeffery IIIFormer Undersecretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State

McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics: Crisis and Capitalism: Does History Suggest Where We're Headed?

SpeakersMichael BordoProfessor of Economics and Director of the Center for Monetary and Financial History, Rutgers University, Jerry MullerProfessor of History, Catholic University of America, Robert J. ShillerArthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University, Richard SyllaHenry Kaufman Professor of History of Financial Institutions and Markets, New York UniversityPresiderBenn SteilSenior Fellow and Director of International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations

The Financial Crisis: Where Do We Go From Here?

SpeakersNouriel RoubiniProfessor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University; Chairman, RGE Monitor, Brad W. SetserFellow for Geoeconomics, Council on Foreign Relations, Benn SteilDirector of International Economics, Council on Foreign RelationsPresiderMortimer B. ZuckermanEditor-in-Chief, U.S. News & World Report

With all the discussion of currency wars, BNN looks at whether establishing a new global monetary order in the fashion of Bretton Woods is ever again possible with Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White and the Making of a New World Order.

British dominance of global finance came to a screeching halt in the modest rooms of a hotel at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Meghna Chakrabarti, Anthony Brooks, and Benn Steil take a look at the epic showdown that took place there and what we can learn from the architects of the world's financial system.

CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports on the latest details of the impact from the Greek elections; and Andrew Busch, BMO Capital Markets and Benn Steil, Council on Foreign Relations, weigh in. "If we don't recapitalize the Spanish banking sector, we won't have time for the types of reforms we want," says Steil.

CNBC's Larry Kudlow discusses whether deflation could be on the horizon. Rebecca Patterson, JP Morgan Asset Management; Zane Brown, Lord Abbett; and Benn Steil, Council on Foreign Relations, also weigh in on the markets.

CNBC's Simon Hobbs has the story on France and Germany's efforts to get fiscal integration among eurozone countries. Discussing whether Europe will get it done, Benn Steil, Council on Foreign Relations; Andrew Busch, BMO Capital Markets; and Nicholas Burns, Harvard University professor.

The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou is teetering on the verge of collapse after he abandoned the referendum on the EU package. With NBC's Michelle Kosinski; Benn Steil, Council on Foreign Relations; and Nick Economides, Advisor to Central Bank of Greece.